Sane or Safe?

Was reviewing this morning’s RSS feeds to see how the friendly, big money-loyal, buyable politicians in Tennessee were doing—never get tired of their friendly faces hiding behind legal pads and raised suit jackets—after the FBI is charging them for changing state laws to benefit a dummy corporation, but before I could read the article a large, orange ad taking up a good portion of the webpage caught my eye:

Stop Crazy Lawsuits in Washington...

Being sensitive to the public perception of lawsuits and lawyers, I clicked to find out what, exactly, these "crazy" cases were that must be stopped. What's interesting is that no previous lawsuits are offered (you can google for them yourself; I’m not going to host their URL). Nor is it exactly clear who the "coalition" hosting the site is or why they don't want to see certain proposed laws passed in Washington state. Instead, what the website amounts to is just what I feared: a special interest group hosting the page to play off the general public's ideas of lawyers and lawsuits run amok.

Now I'm not a native of Washington state. I would rather not post a position on the bills this website doesn't want to see passed. I am a little disturbed, though, by those individuals the website lists as supporting the petition to prevent these "crazy" lawsuits. These are all either insurance companies (State Farm), big business (Johnson & Johnson), or large hospitals. But what I can’t abide is the empty rhetoric of “crazy lawsuits.”

Though treated with the status of individual by the courts, corporations cannot be locked away for injuring like a flesh and blood human. The damage to human life and wellbeing a pharmaceutical company can do far outweighs any convenience store holdup or bank robbery—and these corporations' take (called "profit" by execs) is in the millions. Corporations, incorporeal entities created to make money, are not deterred by jail sentences; profits rule its logic. The only way to keep their abuses limited is to speak their language. The only measure we little guys and gals have against these Goliaths is to sue.

What would be "crazy" is voting against your primary means of protection.

Envy all people, let none annoy thee.